Thursday
Cascade Christian (4-0, 6-1) at Klahowya (4-0, 5-1), 7:15 p.m.
The Eagles face their biggest test of the season in Cascade Christian, the perennial Nisqually League champions. Both teams are tied for first place and the winner will guarantee a spot in the 1A state playoffs.
The Cougars churn out yards in bunches, averaging 286 passing yards and 269 rushing yards per game. Junior quarterback Parker Johnson has completed 68 percent of his passes for 1,720 yards and 14 touchdowns. Meanwhile, junior running back Toretto Magalei is averaging 10 yards per carry with 707 yards and six touchdowns this season.
But Klahowya has a high-powered offense of its own. John Hartford has now thrown for 1,201 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. Drew Dickson leads the team with 407 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. And the ground game has been strong all year, led by sophomore back Hunter Wallis’ 863 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Keep an eye on the weather. The forecast calls for rain, which could ground things a bit.
Friday
Olympic (3-2, 3-5) at North Kitsap (4-1, 7-1), 7 p.m.
The winner of this game walks away with second place in the Olympic League. Right now, North Kitsap is on fire and back to dominating its league opponents, but this is their toughest matchup in several weeks. The Trojans look a little different on offense without quarterback Zeke Gillick, but they were able to move the ball efficiently with Anthony Turso under center. They will need to score plenty of points as North Kitsap is averaging 42 points per game this season and Olympic has struggled somewhat to keep teams out of the end zone.
Sequim (5-0, 7-1) at Bremerton (2-3, 3-5), 7 p.m.
The Knights still have a chance to get into the postseason, but they will have to beat the league champs to do it. Rasheed Joiner now has over 1,000 yards this season and 15 touchdowns. He will need to have a big game to keep up with Sequim’s Taig Walker (942 yards, nine touchdowns) and quarterback Riley Cowan (1,493 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, 343 rushing yards). Bremerton does match up fairly well with the Wolves and it will be interesting to see if they can make it a game.
Tenino (0-4, 0-8) at Kingston (0-6, 1-7), 7 p.m.
Kingston is looking for its second victory of the season and hosts a winless Tenino squad. The Bucs had their best offensive performance in a league game this season against North Mason and hope to carry that momentum over to this non-league contest.
South Kitsap (0-8, 0-8) at Battle Ground (1-3, 2-6), 7 p.m.
The Wolves are looking to avoid going 0-9 for a second straight season and will make the long trip to Battle Ground to do it. South Kitsap scored 20 points last week against Olympia and the offense was able to hit some big plays.
Gig Harbor (2-4, 3-5) at Central Kitsap (4-2, 6-2), 7:15 p.m.
The Cougars clinched a playoff spot last week after its big win over Capital. The Tides are always a thorn in their side, so there will be plenty of motivation to finish out the year strong. Keep an eye on running back Alex Refilong, who is closing in on the school record for rushing yards in a season. He has 194 yards to go with at least two games left and could be one of the select few in West Sound football history to hit the 2,000-yard mark.
— Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKrulishKDN.
